google.com, pub-2774194725043577, DIRECT, f08c47fec0942fa0 L.A.Times Crossword Corner: Wednesday, April 16, 2008 Philip J. Anderson

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Apr 16, 2008

Wednesday, April 16, 2008 Philip J. Anderson

Theme: DATE

17A: Date: TAKE OUT SOCIALLY

39A: Date: PALM TREE FRUIT

62A: Date: DAY MONTH AND YEAR

Nope, could not get on Anderson's wavelength today. ACH, what does it mean? Alas? Oh no? Knew Chinese word for YOKOHAMA (横浜市), not English. The crossing of these 2 words drove me nuts. This "H" is very hard to fish it out. I toyed with T, K, G, never even though of H.

Got SINÉAD easily as I love her "Nothing Compared 2 U" (Tell me baby where did I go wrong?). But I've never met with 25D: ENTERIC before, and ANDRÉ Gide was a complete étranger to me. Vaguely remembered 54A: ESCARP, but could not retrieve it easily from my brain, esp letter "A" as I was not familiar with NAPALM either. So a total disaster at very heart of this puzzle. Too panicky to enjoy any of the dates, so I decided to turn to Mr. Google for comfort.

Across entries:

1A: Check words: PAY TO

14A: Cancel, as a launch: ABORT. Would be NO GO if it's 4-letter I gather?

20A: Cheri of "SNL": OTERI. She definitely craves crossword solvers' constant attention.

21A: Shea corners: BASES. Good clue. Shea Stadium (METS).

22A: German exclamation: ACH. No idea.

24A: Singer O'Connor: SINÉAD. She should not have torn Pope John Paul II's picture into pieces in front of a live performance. But she has suffered enough!

29A: Swedish auto: SAAB

31A: Writer Gide: ANDRÉ. Nobel Literature winner in 1947. Is it a gimme for you?

33A: Mal de__: MER. Or Debussy work La __. Or "MER, sexe, soleil" should you dare! J'adore Gainsbourg.

37A: Udder ends: TEATS. Audacious enough!

43A: Arab leader: var. EMEER. Or EMIR. Literally "prince" in Arabic.

44A: Ashe's game: TENNIS

46A: Matter form: GAS

49A: Poker player's declaration: ALL IN

54A: Steep slope: ESCARP. It was clued as "Slope of a rampart" before. It's "a steep artificial slope in front of a fortification''. Derived from French "escarper" (to cut).

58A: Tapestry in "Hamlet": ARRAS

60A: Sphere of wisdom?: PEARL. Great clue. Would be better if it were in plural form. Pearls of wisdom.

65A: Summer on the Somme: ÉTÉ. Good one. Alliteration. "Somme river" is in northern France. Let's try "Sand's summer" next time. George Sand, the French writer.

69A: Lag behind: TRAIL

70A: French annuity: RENTE. French for "pension", "annuity". Our "rent" is "loyer" in French, like "loyer mensuel" (monthly rent).

71A: The German: DER. Another good clue. Masculine form of "the" in German. "DIE" is the feminine form and "DAS" is the neuter form. Learned this from Dennis.

72A: Witch trial city: SALEM

73A: Sen. Kefauver: ESTES. Does ESTES park (CO) have something to do with Sen. Kefauver and his family?

Down entries:

1D: Sajak of "Wheel of Fortune": PAT. Don't know him. Pure guess. I've never watched "Wheel of Fortune".

3D: City on Tokyo Bay: YOKOHAMA. Major port in Japan, together with Kobe, Osaka, Tokyo.

4D: Waste allowance: TRET

5D: Nebraska Sioux: OTOES

6D: Membrane of the inner eye: RETINA

7D: Hesitant sounds: ERS. Lots of "R' in today's puzzle, 22.

9D: FEMA command facility: EOC (Emergency Operations Center)

11D: Aromatic fir: BALSAM. Saw this clue before.

12D: Assert to be true: ALLEGE. Are you curious about who is Client No. 8 or Client No. 10?

13D: Yellowstone Park sight: GEYSER. See this picture, so misty.

18D: Tell's canton: URI. Or Swiss Canton. Tell is William Tell, the legendary archer. He was forced to shoot an apple from his son's head with bow and arrow.

19D: Bern's river: AAR

23D: Goldfish relative: CARP. The ornamental carp I suppose. This carp is way too big.

25D: Intestinal: ENTERIC. This word screwed up the whole grid for me! The noun is "enteron" (the alimentary canal; the intestines)

26D: "Zip- __-Doo-Dah": A DEE. Nope, I've never heard of it.

27D: Working copy: DRAFT

30D: Ill humor: BILE

32D: To be, in Toulon: ÊTRE. or Raison d'___.

33D: Mme. Bovary: EMMA. Ah, the danger and thrill of adultery! The only Flaubert's work I've read.

36D: Engrave slab: STELE. Look at this piece from Xi'An Forest of Stele Museum, beautiful calligraphy. Those texts are from the Confucian classics.

41D: Audaciously rude: INSOLENT

42D: Tiny birds: TITS. Pretty, isn't it? (Thomas, I did not know the slang meaning of "tit", so I was at sea when you warned me earlier.)

46D: Arranged in steps: GRADED

47D: Expose to oxygen: AERATE. Have to ask this question again: Why green keepers aerate the greens in fall rather than spring? Where have you been Alex in PGA?

48D: More agile: SPRYER. Can also be spelled as SPRIER.

50D: Flame-thrower fluid: NAPALM. No idea. It's "a highly incendiary jellylike substance used in fire bombs, flamethrowers, etc". From Na (phthene)+PALM (itate). All gibberish to me.

53D: Senator Nunn: SAM. No, I've never heard of him. He left the Senate before I arrived here. SAM Snead tomorrow?

55D: Stimpy's pal: REN. Repeat offender.

56D: San Diego pro: PADRE. What's their record this season? 8-6, not bad. Twins bullpen sucks!!

64D: Latvian chess master: TAL (Mikhail). Not Russian?

67D: Legal thing: RES. Latin.

Quip, or quote, that's the question, for tomorrow.

C.C.

44 comments:

Dick said...

Good morning cc etal. If they are not going to clue this word (etal) today I will use it for them.Not too bad today. I did struggle with 54A but knowing napalm it helped fill in the blanks. I hate variant spellings like emeer for 43A. I always see this as a cop out for the constructor. It will be 70 degrees here today so it looks like another fine golf day in the Berg. Oh well have a nice day and I will see you tomorrow.

Dr. Dad said...

Ach in German means Oh! Ach du lieber is Oh, for the love of heaven! Did anyone else notice the inappropriateness of 37A and 42D?
Two German clues, same puzzle. It is the ornamental carp, I think. And, like Dick, did not like emeer.
Napalm was used extensively in Vietnam.

When in China we saw a stele in Fairyland in Penglai. The story was that as they were engraving it they were also drinking and so the characters got larger and larger towards the end ofthe engraving task.

NYTAnonimo said...

Except for spelling SINEAD as SENEAD I did OK-slower than I'd like though. Video of NAPALMhere

Katherine said...

Good morning CC and everyone else.
I did notice the inappropriateness of 37A and 42D! Odd.......I never heard of enteric as intestinal. I did know napalm, horrible stuff. I could not get 1A, I was thinking more of "checking" words. It just didn't click for me. I did not know 20A because I am sleeping when SNL comes on, but she sure is pretty. The picture of the geyser is beautiful, and so was the bird. Thanks for all the links today CC. I had no idea a carp was so big.
Have a good day everyone!

Dr. Dad said...

Thanks, Katherine. I didn't want to be the only one.

Zhouqin (C.C.) Burnikel said...

drdad,
I did notice the TEATS one. I thought it was very daring. But I had no idea that "TITS" is a slang too. In fact, Thomas wrote to me earlier warning me to be careful when I google this "tiny little bird". I did not understand why. I was completely baffled.

Whoa! TEATS and TITS, too bold and reckless to be appropriate then!

RE: EMEER
Since the clue specifically says it's a Var. So I don't object to the cluing at all.

Dr. Dad said...

How do you add the "link" but call it by a different name? For example, nytanonimo's napalm video link that is called "here." Not familiar with this part of blogging and e-mailing.

Anonymous said...

Good morning CC, Dick, et al, Amen, Dick. 43A was irritating and I didn't know stele. Thank you for the links, CC. Learned something new today. I laughed at 60A, sphere of wisdom. Thought that was cute, and I liked 21A Shea corners. I always cringe with German vocab but these weren't that bad. Much prefer the Romance languages. And "escarp"? I haven't seen that before either. "carp" and "escarp". Interesting. Well, 'Carp'e Diem, y'all. It's a cold but good one here in VA. Where's the Berg, Dick?

Zhouqin (C.C.) Burnikel said...

Drdad,
It has to be coded in HTML.

See Here for more information.

You can call it here, or there, or Ach du lieber, or anything you want your text to be.

Anonymous said...

Katherine, drdad, I also noticed the 37A and 42D relationship. I just figured after Alba and Andress yesterday, Anderson was just following his interests. Dennis might really start smoking if this keeps up!

Superfrey said...

Good morning all !!! This one was a two "googler" for me... I wrestled with 54A Escarp and incredibly could not cash in on 20A Oteri. I too miss the show now though it was a favorite for many years.... showing my age again... sorry. 42D Tits I have seen many times in a variety of puzzles... for the "Tufted Tit Mouse". I was a former half-hearted birder when I lived in Jersey... but left for the warmth of Naples, FL... Have a great day all

Dennis said...

Good morning, C.C. and gang - Inappropriate?? I thought they were great, lol. Not like there's little kids doing the crossword (or even reading papers, for that matter).
I too have always thought variations were a cop-out on the part of the author. Other than that, I thought this was a nice little puzzle, flowing smoothly from top to bottom.
Lois, you're right, I've moved up to cigars. Now I'm really looking forward to tomorrow's.
C.C., great links - thanks again for all the time you put into this.

Anonymous said...

Teats? Puhlease! Entirely inappropriate. I put "E Sharp" for steep slope. Don't ask me why and of course it messed up. Got the rest of the puzzle pretty quickly. Ich bin ein american. I tried to read Der Spiegel once. LOL.

Dick said...

Lois, the Berg is Pittsburgh home of the Pittsburgh Steelers. The berg has its own vocabulary with the most famous being younz for plural of you. We are having such unusual weather for this time of year and I need to get all of the golf in that I can before this nice weather ends. WE normally have 200 plus cloudy and overcast days a year here.

Anonymous said...

Hey ya'll! 26D is from a Disney film, Song of the South. 1946 live action and animation. Also was the opening song to the Wonderful World of Disney. Kids can be helpful, sometimes

Dennis said...

Well, I guess it's just a matter of time until the whackos at groups like American Family Association start to edit/censor our crosswords. Am I the only one that sees no problem with these innocuous clues and answers?
Off to the beach - let's all try to not take ourselves too seriously, ok?

Boomer said...

Well, At least I knew the Bowlers button. I always know the bowlers button. Yep I knew Ach, having spent a bit of time in Duetchland while in the service of Uncle Sam. But the Germans pronounce the "ch" by curling your tongue toward the roof of your mouth and making a sound. Ya know, the way Chinese pronounce the "K" in Hong Kong. We don't have that sound in English as a rule, but sometimes make it if the lutefisk isn't quite cooked all the way.

Dr. Dad said...

Boomer - from Norway? I am familiar with lutefisk and lufsa (spelling it correctly)?

Dr. Dad said...

Dennis - I didn't see a problem with the answers despite what my comment implied. I just wasn't sure how to point out that the two were there without sounding offensive. I actually thought it quite funny to see them in the same puzzle.

Anonymous said...

Good morning.

What the heck is a TRET?

46D bothered me. I don't think of GRADED as being step-like; I think of a smooth slope. Merriam-Webster backs me up on that. Luckily, it didn't give me problems. I already had 46A, GAS, but if I hadn't, I would have put in TIERED and been in a bind.

I don't get 45D, either. Why is it clued as Old draft org.? Men still have to register for the draft, and the agency is still called the SSS (Selective Service System). So where does the "old" come from?

It looks like the weather here should be lovely for the next few days. Let's hope-- my kids are on spring break and they're getting a little crazy from being stuck inside.

Dr. Dad said...

Ellie - The old comes about because there is no draft. The SSS exists so that a pool of names is there in case the "old draft" needs to be resurrected to provide soldiers.

Tret definition

Anonymous said...

Ok, I'm calling the crossword police! We are clearly sliding into the depths of sin what with the Irish phallic symbol a few wks ago, "sex" in Monday's puzzle, Alba and Andress in yesterday's and now those innocuous words today! Holy Crosswords! We've already got Dennis going to cigars. His next step might be illegal! I personally am installing seat belts on my chair for tomorrow's puzzle. I'll call the CP right after I do that puzzle :)...NOT! I love this blog! I learn so much from you all.

Anonymous said...

Hey all!

A little late today . . . feelin a little under the weather. But, things just didn't feel right not doing the crossword and then popping onto CC's awesome blog.

All I have to say is YEAH to dick re: the Berg! I used to live there. In fact went to school w/Willie Stargell and Rocky Bleier's kids. And STILL a diehard Steelers fan despite the fact I'm in philly. My pup has a Steelers tag.

As for the puzzle - I struggled today. But, could be due to the feeling not so good. Had to laugh at the teat/tit answers, though I never knew "tits" were tiny birds. I also thought "Shea corners" was a fun clue as well.

Have a great day, all!

Boomer said...

drdad,
Ja sure, dontcha know. I'm a 5th generation decendant of Asa Hutchinson, of the Hutchinson Family Singers. Famous 19th century in New England and west central Minnesota. "Harps in the Wind" by Carol Brink. c 1947 if you can find a copy. And I have never eaten lutefisk or lefse, and don't intend to. I think when the Scandinavians came to Minnesota and discovered fresh water Walleye, lutefisk became a legend of the past.

MH said...

Little bit of struggle in lower left corner as I didn't know arras (should memorize this as it is frequently used). Theme made this one easier that it would have been otherwise. My other problem was TRET and OTERI. I guessed at the mutual T since I was pretty sure that Oteri had been used previously. I thought 47A and 42D appearing in the same puzzle a little sort of cheeky - I like a puzzle with a sense of humor! Emeer?, didn't like it. Never heard of stele but got it from the across words. All in all a pretty good puzzle, just challenging enough.

jimhllrn said...

I thought this was a very simple puzzle. Why?? Because, when I finished I went to the BLOG and found a lot of comments referring to a DOWN word. I had to go back to the puzzle to see what the down words were. This is extremely rare for me.
I have to use the DOWN words when I'm stumped and 60A (PEARL) stumped me good. I'm thinking RELIGION, PHILOSOPHY, etc. and came up with 'nada'. The down words give me PEARL which I don't believe So I consult Webster and he gives an example as "a drop of dew". That confirms that Phil Anderson is smarter than Jim.
Lotta fun today. I love it when I have to consult a book after I finish the puzzle.

Crockett1947 said...

Good morning everyone. So we had PALM yesterday and PALM TREE FRUIT today -- COCONUTS tomorrow? 'Twas fun to see the 37A and 42D in the same puzzle. Some very clever clues today. Liked the TAL answer. Have a great hump day!

Unknown said...

Good morning all. Thanks for all the help and explanations! The crossword vernacular can be quite different than what is used in everyday speak! One quick comment: C.C., the clues for 6 and 25D were a bit misleading as they are not entirely correct. The retina is not really a "membrane" and "enteric" usually refers specifically to the nervous system that controls the bowels. It doesn't seem these two gave too many problems, but I think better clues could have been given! Until tomorrow...

Anonymous said...

OTOES, OTERI, TRET, EMEER, and ESCARP. Yuck. Never mind that I don't know OTOES, but it was never going to happen while I had PAY UP for 1A Check word. I was thinking of a restaurant check, not a financial check.

Also, I initially had SCRUB for 14A instead of ABORT.

jimhllrn said...

JUSTIN,
You made me curious so as long as I had Webster out I looked up RETINA and ENTERIC.
RETINA -"the membrane that lines most of the anterior chamber of the inner eye" - - etc.etc.
ENTERIC - - "if or relating to the ENTERON. (ENTERON = "the ALIMENTARY CANAL")

C.C.
i didn't believe ESCARP, thinking it should be escarpment. Its a correct word, but even Webster sends you to SCARP where you learn what what ESCARP is.
Cleaver constructing Phil. Good job.

Anonymous said...

25d enteric is a given, as per enteric aspirin.42d There is no such bird as a ”tit.” There are however Titmice, Verdins, & Bushtits, all under the classification of “Paridae.” According to the Peterson Field Guide to Western Birds, there are 64 species world wide. The word itself (OED)indicating a small bird goes back to the 14th century.
Feste

Dr. Dad said...


This link
has "intestinal" in the definition.


This one
shows that the retina is a layer with ten distinct sub-layers, only two of which are called membranes.


And this one
shows that there is a bird called a tit.

Dennis said...

Thanks for the link, drdad - I found myself staring at the "great tit" and I have no idea why...

Anonymous said...

The other day I said Wednesday's crossword tend to be the easiest..well I was wrong today. I am not doing well this week. Enteric was easy for me..being a nurse. The left middle side of the crossword..I couldn't get ..so I never got Palm tree fruit. Oh and "tits" for tiny birds..I am a bird watcher ..know the tufted tit mouse well..never thought of them as tiny and have never said "Oh look at all the tits at the bird feeders"! Have a great day..it is beautiful here in NJ...Kim

Zhouqin (C.C.) Burnikel said...

Justin,
As drdad pointed it out in his link, ENTERIC is a legit clue. I guess you were thinking of the very technical term "Enteric Nervous System".

Mh,
EMEER.It would have bothered me if VAR were not part of the clue.

Jim,
Isn't "Pearls of Wisdom" a common saying? And pearls are round/spheric.

feste,
I agree with drdad. TIT is a bird. I've checked several dictionaries.

Anonymous said...

Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah
Zip-A-Dee-A

My oh my, what a wonderful day
Plenty of sunshine heading my way
Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah
Zip-A-Dee-A...

You didn't sing this song as a child?

Nor have you ever watched or heard of the Wheel? Pat and Vanna White? Funnily enough, Vanna exposed her "teats" in an old 80's (maybe early 90's) Playboy.

Thanks for the help in the middle... stele, escarp, and emeer (yuck) threw me for a loop today. Waiting for the god-awful quip tomorrow...

Anonymous said...

drdad: That is a "Great Tit" not a "Tit."
Feste

Bill said...

Some of you saw (and apparently thought) the same as I did and reading some of the comments is too funny for words. Got hung top left. Used PAYEE and SCRUB ergo nothing after that made sense. But with a little help from Mr. Google I prevailed.
Good to see spring finally!! Whoopee!!!!

NYTAnonimo said...

A NYT crossword in January had "Skinny Bitch" as an entry this year so it seems like the puzzles have become fair game like everything else. I know of kids who do these puzzles so don't delude yourself there. Check out this quizquiz from "What's your Offensiveness Index?" discussion.

Anonymous said...

Dennis, you are hilarious!

Little Lj said...

Ok I had

ENTRAIL for ENTERIC

ANNEE for RENTE

TIERED for GRADED

And PAYEE for PAY TO

All of which lead to a right old mess!!

Plus, I ran out of white out today, so even when I got some crosses that clearly showed my guesses to be short of the mark, found it difficult to see what I had right and what I had wrong.

I too, loved PEARL and BASES.

And for some reason today, I keep wanting to watch this film . "I love the smell of NAPALM in the morning!" :oD

Mr. Corcoran said...

dang! those of us on the west coast are missing out on these fun comments...will have to get up earlier and crossword during the wee hours...ciao

Zhouqin (C.C.) Burnikel said...

little lj,
Next time I will remember NAPALM. Thanks.

Thomas,
I think you are the one who had the most fun yesterday.

CTE said...

Panda SiChuan
Sichuan, also called Shu, a Chinese glyph that means silkworm, witnessed silk clothing production at least 2,000 years ago. Sichuan is home of tea, distilled

spirit, and varieties of food. Beautiful and won...
If you want to get more details, you may click http://www.travelevery.com/Sichuan/